Three Cost Effective Strategies to Work with Influencers

Three Cost Effective Strategies to Work with Influencers

Influencer marketing has taken the advertising industry by storm! Iconic brands such H&M, Starbucks, Fiji water, and IKEA are pushing their brands beyond traditional social media marketing practices.

Whether you love it, hate it, or simply don’t understand it, influencer marketing works. It’s been reported that over one third of consumers are swayed to make a purchase from an online recommendation. In a world with so much noise, it can be extremely difficult for brands to create an authentic and memorable conversation with users.

For smaller brands and SME’s we’ve compiled three cost-saving strategies to engage influencers.

Gifting Goods and Services to Influencers

If you’re on a budget, offering gifts or services is a cost-effective strategy that will attract influencers. Plus, if they align with your brand or product, they’ll likely be more compelled to develop a partnership with you.

With that being said, always outline the campaign details. For example, If you want your page to be tagged, or certain parts of your product to be captured, make sure to be clear about these expectations.

Work with Micro-Influencers

What are micro-influencers? They’re ‘local celebrities’ with medium sized social media followings, typically between 2-50k followers on Instagram. Although they may not possess hundreds of thousands of followers, they’re engagement is typically higher and more concentrated within specific niche categories.

Micro-influencers can be contacted directly via Instagram or through email address indicated on their social profiles. They often respond well to local businesses, as they’re also actively seeking partnerships to grow their content and audience. You can obviously offter to pay micro-influencers for their content, but for starters you can leverage the products or services.

Social Media Giveaways and Contests

If you’re working with a tight marketing budget, you can engage micro influencers without overspending. Many content creators are open to hosting giveaways for their Instagram followers. Offering influencers an in-kind donation for giveaways lets you tap into their audience, while driving engagement to your own Instagram page.

Bare in mind that sometimes offering prizes or gifts is not substantial enough for influencers. Many higher tiered content creators are full-time influencers that are accustomed to receiving paid incentives. That’s why it’s important to be well-equipped when planning an influencer campaign. Checkout this example of a competition involving influencers, “Your city, Your Passion:”

Bonus:

Node is the go-to app for connecting instagram influencers with restaurants and bars. They offer a mobile app that let’s business and brand connect with hundreds of local influencers and foodies that will promote their business with Instagram posts. Their private beta is currently running in Toronto, and they’re picking up traction with micro-influencers and various food/beverage brands.